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Group Three
An adventuring group composed of Rocket Racoon, Carli Faewyn, Bastion Shadeleaf, Belladonna Nyteshade, and Martus Shadeleaf. Session History Session 1 (02/07/15) The group opened the Dancing Stone to little fanfare, making just 9 gold before opposing shopkeep Vincent Farthingtop appeared and harassed Carli and Martus. He purchased a small brass cougar with great spite (and another 9 gold), then left the establishment as the day came to a close and the curfew bells started ringing. The day being over, Bastion began to examine the basement level of the shop, and discovered a rectangular seam in the rocks below. Rocket joined in the examination and they determined that by sliding a metal implement into the seam, it allowed the rectangular section to shift back. Upon pressing on the section of wall, the entire wall slid back, revealing a staircase that descended down. Immediately, Rocket and Bastion set off down the staircase, finding it to be incredibly long, only making progress once the determination was made that they could walk backwards down the steps. After making it down, they found themselves in a gigantic room of stone, measuring 300 feet by 800 feet by 6 1/2 feet. The room was filled with stone shelves, some of which at the far end were destroyed as if by something of great strength smashing them. Each member of the group came down and looked about, with Rocket flitting about at top speed in excitement and Martus examining the history of the stone, and Bastion determined that the stone was foreign. Additionally, examination of the door and staircase revealed that this "vacant vault" was in fact located far to the north, and that the doorway was a portal between the vault and the staircase. After finding no further secrets, the group left for bed, with the intention of investigating further the next day. Session 2 (02/21/15) The players were visited by a Tiefling dressed in a worn cloak. They did not ask his name, but he immediately began to look around the shop, sniffing the air. As he proceeded to the back, where the store's namesake was displayed, a green mist began to stream towards his nose, seemingly from out of thin air at first, but later from the Stone itself. He took occasional swigs from a flask containing a green liquid as he did this. This tiefling demanded repeatedly to be sold the stone. Carli denied him this sale, but asked if they could help him find anything else. He indicated that one thing he wants to find is a specific goblet, formed in the shape of a skull. He doesn't know where they might find one, but he would like to have it nonetheless. As the shop owners did not know where to find this, he began to leave. Before making his exit, Rocket stole the flask containing the green liquid from him, finding that it bore a symbol of three interconnected loops, pointed at their apexes. Growing restless and wanting to find new treasures, Bastion and Rocket left the shop seeking abandoned buildings to ransack, as there are many in Kaverdale. In the pursuit they came across a woman looking for employment, and approached her to see if she might be interested in applying to become a Clerk at their store. She accepted, not before Rocket stealthily analyzed the contents of her pockets and handbag and found that she has little gold to her name and a dying mother. Meanwhile, Carli and Belladonna put out messages asking for applicants to employment at their store. Bastion and Rocket stumbled across a building that looked abandoned enough in the Mesa Fault area of the Bazaar. Finding the building to be extremely unstable, they rallied the other members of their group and began to poke about the building, which appeared to be an abandoned shop. They discovered that the shop had an extremely strong saltwater smell about it, as if it were close to the ocean, despite being quite far from any ocean or even freshwater river. Entering the building, they discovered a trapdoor leading to a basement filled with barrels. Once they were safely in the basement, they pried open barrels with abandon, finding that some were filled with pickled fish (Which Rocket immediately devoured), and others with badly rotten fish (Which Rocket was able to handle the smell of, but Bastion vomited in reaction to). They were stopped when they discovered that some of the barrels contained a deep blue liquid... with horrible seacreatures living inside. The creatures were awoken by their investigation, and managed to burst open their wooden containers, but not before the group managed to return up the ladder. The sea creatures trapped below, the group shot arrows, threw daggers, and magicked until the creatures were dead, while Martus managed to purify the water below, ridding it of the deep blue consistency it bore before. Stealing one barrel of this blue liquid (as well as one barrel of the pickled fish), they returned to the surface and their shop before curfew. Session 3 (3/07/15) When the day opened, Bastion and Bella began to exit the shop and found a young elf at the door. Introducing himself as Gorwin Skalanis, he offered his resume to Carli in an attempt to fill the position of salesclerk. Noting that he was skilled in math, as well as keen of eye and mind (he noted Bastion's traps and was able to catch Rocket attempting to steal from Carli), and recognizing he had skill as an artist, Carli hired him. Bella, looking to investigate rival shopowner Vincent Farthingtop, managed to sneak into his rear storeroom and found a wardrobe that looked suspiciously like one they themselves owned. Returning to the shop to see if their own wardrobe is still in the storeroom of the Dancing Stone, they confirm that it is, and Rocket finds a secret compartment that opens in the base of the wardrobe when the wardrobe is closed. In the compartment is a soaking wet cloak, with a small rusty and nondescript key in a pocket. The liquid appears to be similar to the liquid found in the barrels at the shack from the session before. Unable to detect magic from the wardrobe, the group finds that it is not wet underneath, and that there was no indication of where it came from. Carli recalled that she got the wardrobe from a dwarf a while back, located at 406 Shoehorn Way. Interested in finding out where the shack's previous owner is now, they decided to go to the office of the Kaverdale Conclave to find out its historical ownership. After some time spent waiting in the lobby, and after Rocket made a loud ruckuss with a noisemaker, they got to speak to Amandon Corosi, the Sr. Administrator of Property, and found that the shack's previous owner was a man named Kenneth Anticore, and were warned that the Anticores, while seemingly absent from Kaverdale for many years, were very dangerous. Looking for records of any forwarding address, Amandon saw that records for the present owner of the building were mostly lost, save for a forwarding address to a small warehouse on the riverfront, 5922 Clammy Hill. Bastion pocketed the remains of the deed to the shack, itself located at 90 Plataea Plaza Detouring back to the location Carli recalled as the source of the wardrobe, they found this dwarven home was abandoned, and entered to find nothing left but a somewhat hidden lockbox. Picking the lock, they discovered the deed to this small home, and a receipt of sale from the same warehouse that they were led to at the office. The warehouse was mostly boarded up, but there were signs of traffic around it. Children playing in front of it were warded off by Martus, and they entered to find it dark, with a pair of legs jutting out on the floor just around a corner. The legs belonged to a man wearing fine clothing, carrying nothing but a few gold pieces and a small ring. With Carli and Rocket scuffling over who should get the ring, they heard a crash in the next room, as well as screams. Entering the next room to see the source of the commotion, they see that two people were apparently carrying a vase filled with the same blue liquid they encountered before, and were now writhing in pain on the floor, steadily transforming into fish-like beings. Putting these writhing monsters out of their misery, the group proceeded through the building, finding themselves facing a huge hole in the ground, an earthy ramp leading into the darkness below. They walked down the ramp and walked thorough a tunnel, finding a pool of water. With some difficulty they crossed a ladder to the other side of the pool, and entered a room containing several wrapped up humanoid bodies, more vases and barrels, and a cage of squirrels. They moved a barrel, and a passage in the wall opened nearby. The passage led to a very large chamber, with a catwalk-like arrangement of dirt around it, and in the center a collection of 12-20 fish-like beings, all gibbering and swaying while facing the center of their gathering. Rounding the room via the catwalk and avoiding the attention of these beings, Bastion and Rocket noted that there was a tiny squid-like creature in the middle of the group where they were facing, squirming about in a tiny pool of the deep blue water. Finding a chest in the far end of the room, Carli and Bella opened it overzealously, alerting the mass of creatures below to their presence. Bastion and Rocket began to bombard the creatures below with arrows, fire, and blasts of gunfire, but they had to all run out before the mass became too much, bringing the chest with them and closing the stone passageway securely behind them. They carried the chest back to their shop successfully, finding within it a bunch of assorted items, as well as a few valuable gemstones. Session 4 (3/21/15) After a few days of very little happening, our group found themselves seeking a golden box, rumored to be encrusted with jewels and filled with more of the same. Arriving at its rumored location, a shack north of Kaverdale, they found the home of the recently departed owner empty. Martus rounded to the back end of the shack, and opened a door, only to be met with a wild squirrel. He threw the squirrel back into the wall, and it quickly scampered away. Inside a back room of the shack, a bed covered in cockroaches and a wardrobe were all the group found. They opened the wardrobe and found nothing but a small brass key. Tearing apart the bed's straw mattress, they found the gold box they were looking for, but it was locked. The key they found in the wardrobe unlocked it, and inside they discovered yet another box, of the same shape and identical appearance, but somewhat smaller. Pulling the box out, of the larger box, they also discovered a key, identical as well to the original large key, but smaller still. Unlocking the smaller box, they determined that each box they open contains a smaller box. Not only that, but by closing and reopening any of the boxes, a new box would appear inside, even if a box had been taken out previously. While messing with the box and its duplicates, they discovered the duplicate sub-boxes would disappear after a short while. After a bit of fiddling with boxes, a troupe of goblins appeared, approaching from the east. The players managed to avoid conflict by giving some duplicate boxes to the goblins, who left quickly. Upon further investigation it was determined that a small jewel loose on the outer side of the box could be removed or pressed into the box, creating a negative space extending past the box itself. Inside the jeweled hole of the top-level box, there was a brass key. This key, when put in the hole of the box, allowed the box to open without a box appearing inside. Finally, the group decided to see someone else about the box: Wix Finrickson, who Carli knew to be an expert on stranger artifacts. Upon visiting Wix's place, he put the box into an apparatus that released a purple smoke, and remarked in shock that the box is very dangerous, and that he would pay any price for it. The party declined, but inquired further about the danger of the box. He described a collection of objects linked to the word "Flightwood" that were strange but non-magical, despite having apparently magical effects. Before he could explain too much, a knock on the door was heard. Rushing to open the door, Wix found a small basket at the doorstep. Inside the basket was another small octopus-like creature, similar to the one the party found in the bottom of the warehouse tunnels. A note was folded in the basket as well, wet with the same blue liquid they have seen so many times before. Wix, not knowing the effects of this fluid, grabbed the note and his arm began to encrust in scales. A quick purification of the water by Martus stopped and reversed the transformation. Wix, incensed, stepped to the door and was hit by an arrow in the chest. Bastion was unable to track the source of the arrow, which appeared to be made of a room-temperature ice, and which suddenly turned to water as soon as it was removed from Wix. Martus healed Wix with some difficulty, then the party convinced Wix to allow them to hide him in their vault. They managed to leave through the use of a potion of forgetfulness that Wix drank, and hid him in their vault without further interruption. Session 5 (3/28/15) The morning after taking in Wix, the group awoke to find that the vault wall was slid back, and Wix was nowhere to be found. Bastion, being skilled in tracking, found that Wix had walked outside. There they found a dense group of people huddled together and talking in fevered whispers. At the center of the crowd lay the corpse of Wix, his body slashed all around. Next to his body lay two small lengths of wire, each bearing twistings of sharpened wire at regular intervals. This "barbed wire" was not familiar to Rocket, so they decided to visit a local smith who might know what it is. They travelled through the city to the dwarven district, and met with a smith who said that the idea of wire covered with barbs was familiar to him, and that they should speak with an old dwarf nearby about it, as he was working on this very concept. Speaking to the forgetful man, they gathered that a wizard, whose name the old dwarf doesn't recall, had requested the dwarf produce the wire, and to use a flux prepared with a potion he provided when creating the steel used for the wire. Just after the group left, a window burst on the old dwarf's smith shop, and inside they found two snakes composed of barbed wire, their bodies supported by some unknown magic. Successfully dismantling the wiresnakes now constricting this old dwarf, one of the wiresnakes attempted to escape, but the group gave chase. Session 6 (4/11/15) They followed the wiresnake through the city and out to the south-west for a few miles. There, with the day wearing thin and darkness looming, they were led to a foreboding tower, sitting on the edge of a cliffface overlooking the ocean. Bastion recognized this as the Tower of Ishtari, though he didn't know much about it. Rocket followed the wiresnake up to the tower stealthily, but the wiresnake scaled the tower wall and entered a window far up the side. Just then, a group of goblins began to approach. The group successfully hid from the goblins, who chatted idly in goblin language as they sauntered over to the tower. They knocked on the door, and the voice of a goblin inside asked "Are you goblins?" The goblins outside answered that they were, and the goblin inside allowed them entrance. Rocket convinced our group of adventurers to let him attempt the same action to get the door open, as it appears the only mechanism for opening the door is a dragon's head made of some sort of metal, mounted on the front of the door, and it appears that to open the door normally one must reach in the dragon head's mouth. Himself knocking on the door, Rocket was asked "Are you a goblin" by the doorkeeper. He answered in Goblin language "Yes, i'm a goblin". Foolishly, the goblin inside opened the door, only for the group to rush in and massacre the group of goblins inside. The inside of the tower, wet and musty, was built more for function than comfort it seemed, and contained a few bedspreads built for goblins. Two doors led to separate storage areas, one filled with barrels of Vampire Ash, a component for potions used in the creation of Constructs, and the other filled with barrels of toenail clippings, another similar component. They found a staircase, and walked up it. The next floor was cold, and contained a wall at one end with a heavy iron door and a thick pipe running into the wall above the door from an outside wall. The door has no apparent unlocking or opening mechanism, but the door would not budge when pushed. Additionally, the door was extremely cold. Through a gap in the wall, the group could see a large pile of ice blocking the other side of the door, and water dripping from the pipe above them. Rocket used his Thermal Sublimator to heat the pipe, causing the dripping water to heat up and melt the ice. Eventually opening the door, they went up another staircase and found a room full of crates, scattered about an open floorplan, and a goblin in the center. The goblin, notinc their presence, tossed some dust from a pouch into a crate through a gap, and they began to hear a horrible wood and metal grinding noise. Killing the goblin and finding another barbed wire snake creature inside this create, they were attacked by more goblins from the floor above. They killed all of the goblins, as well as a barbed wire cat that the goblins produced from a crate. Session 7 (4/25/15) Group Three yet again climbed to the next floor, and found an open door, with some form of magical darkness on the other side. Investigating the door, Bella found a string indicating a tripwire had been set off, making it apparent that the darkness is the result of this trap. However, there was no obvious mechanism for disabling the effect. The darkness, they found, impeded movement. They sent Rocket ahead into the darkness, and he managed to struggle through until he found a goblin that was stuck. Interested, Rocket pulled the struggling goblin to safety. This goblin, introducing himself as Gaxgy, explained to them that there was a goblin that went below, with white hair, that had a large crystal. He elaborated that to dispel the darkness, one must "bleed the goblin" on it. Bastion found the crystal below (also determining that it was a very valuable ancient elven artifact) and slathered blood on it. However, there was no visible effect. Gaxgy clarified that "bleeding the goblin" meant urination, and so Bastion urinated on the crystal. This seemed to activate it, dispelling the darkness around them. Rocket held Gaxgy close, bound by Bastion's manacles. Walking into the next area, they found an intersection of hallways, and took the one to the left. Bella found an Acid trap and safely set it off from a distance, then entered the room and found a vase and three crates. She identified that the vase was covered in Draconic writing, but was corrected by Basition that this was Abyssal, which is far worse, and it described how to grow some variety of plant for purposes unknown. In a crate nearby, they found the severed arm of a dragonborn, and upon touching it the tower gave a tremendous shudder. Inside the vase, they discovered a shard of what appeared to be mithral, which began to tap against the inside of the vase toward the arm of the dragonborn as soon as the arm was disturbed. Just then, they heard the voice of a humanoid speaking Goblin descending the stairs. He approached the trap that they had set off before and reset it, and they heard another voice, that of a goblin, indicating their awareness of intruders. Bastion, seeing the man and goblin around the corner, noted that the goblin held a bow that was glowing intently. Gaxgy began to appear to come under the effect of mind control, and attempted to struggle free, but they had no time to deal with him, so they silenced him with a gag and snuck away, hiding in a broom closet. They hear several clinks and thumps, then heard the man with the goblin begin to walk back to where he came from. Just then, Gaxgy knocked into some brooms which then fell, making a loud enough noise to attract the man and his goblin. They knocked Gaxgy unconcious and left him on the ground, arranged so that the man would think he was behind the noise, and managed to escape back towards the stairs they came from. Eventually they heard the man and his goblin ascend to the next floor. They followed and discovered three altars, slathered with blood and engraved with Infernal writings. The writings were unknown to the group, but the blood appeared to be that of a dragonborn. On one of the altars, set to the side, was a box. They opened it and found a letter from a "Katore" indicating that Ishtari, the owner of the tower, should kill the group before they manage to interrupt another ceremony. He also mentioned that Ishtari should send a scouting group of goblins to Rexitar's location in the Kaverwood to investigate why contact with him was lost. They concluded this was likely sent by Kenneth Anticore. Session 8 (5/18/15) Ascending to the next level of the tower, the group found the man from before, who they figured was Ishtari, speaking to his goblin friend and fiddling with some bottles on a table. Sneaking forward, they unleashed a volley of arrows and other ranged attacks. The man, terrified, lunged towards a pole mounted with a crystal, and the crystal burst, sending a wall of green flame across a nearby bookshelf, previously full of books but now with just green glittering ashes covering its shelves. They subdued the man and his goblin. Bella, seeing a book on local foxes, took it off the shelf, but doing so activated the pole-mounted crystal to the left of this shelf, bursting the remaining books into flame as well. Rocket interrogated the goblin as best he could, finding little information of use, and they grabbed what they could and left. Bastion took the bow, Bella took a clip of Returning to attach to her chakram, and Carli took Ishtari's staff. They also found two boxes of green crystals that, when activated, burst into flame similarly to the ones Ishtari had as traps, a scroll of expeditious retreat, and a scroll of obscuring mist. Returning to their shop, they found a notice on the door. The notice indicated that their shop was being temporarily closed due to a discrepancy in the record of their Industrial Insurance, and they decided they would need a lawyer. Carli and Bastion went to an upscale tavern, still covered in goblin blood and insides, and declared "We need a good lawyer". They were directed to the law office of Carrion and Brimstone, and found that Fresh Brimstone, their Tiefling lawyer, was the same lawyer that Rocket stole a detect magic potion from long ago. He told them they have much to discuss, and closed the door behind them. Session 9 (5/25/15) Fresh Brimstone spoke to Carli and Bastion about the legal situation they were in, saying that there was solid legal ground, but that they should be able to get out of the difficulties with relative ease. They mentioned Kenneth Anticore and their situation with him, and found that he is supposed to have died in a fire 10 years ago, and that they should investigate further after addressing their legal issues. He also explained that he took an interest in them and was watching their shop, because he wants them to get Vincent Farthingtop to go out of business. They worked it out of Fresh that Farthingtop took some paintings that once belonged to Fresh's father. They agreed to a 150GP fee (100 now, 50 later. Carli talked him down a bit from his initial demand of 300GP) and ended up taking the road to the Kaverdale Conclave building to speak with Amandon Corosi about the situation. However, Amandon appeared to have taken ill, and Bartram Karver, his deputy, had taken his place for the time being. Fresh reacted with terror at seeing Karver, and later explained that Karver was a murderer who was supposed to be in prison for conspiracy to assassinate Rechtor Sugett Ninkirk. His presence could only mean that the government of Kaverdale was being infiltrated by a criminal element. They completed the submission process for the forms needed to dismiss the charge, and Fresh told them it may be a week or two before they can resume business, as the town guard needs to be alerted to the change in their legal status, and that is a slow process. They went back to the Dancing Stone, and explained the situation to the other members of the Dancing Stone. He forgave Rocket for the taking of the potion, telling him that he couldn't replicate the potion because it's not a potion at all. He told the group they would need to go to the Cryptorium and find the tomb of Anticore. He said that the tomb should have an intact seal, and gave them a method for testing the seal. He also gave them tokens, and said they would need them. He pointed out that he can't join them, as Tieflings aren't allowed in the Cryptorium due to prejudices about infernal bloodlines. He also said the tokens were from a contact who got them for him recently. They went to the Cryptorium and spoke to the Curator, Rakelsa Blake, who was clad in a colorful, skull-adorned dress. She told them to keep the tokens in their hands, or else they might be judged by Voedsel. They descended, finding tombs for Pacey Calvert and Lielo Ementar, as well as several other heroes of Orlean history. Rocket was also tempted by a voice from a Voedsel Prayer Cup, but managed to resist. Finally, they found the tomb of Kenneth Anticore, and found that while it appeared to be sealed, the seal was less coherent than other tombs they tested, as if it had been replicated poorly. Just then, their tokens expired, disintegrating in their hands to the sound of a horn, and they were attacked by the Cryptorium's Crypt Creepers, which also brought forth Phantasms and Skeletons. Managing to just barely dispatch with these creatures, they examined a second tomb in the same room that had apparently been shattered open. It too was labeled "Kenneth Anticore". Laying in it was the body of a man with nice clothes who also had a face covered in wrappings, as if he was burnt. One of the group members went to touch the body, and it collapsed into a grey claylike dust. Session 10 (6/01/15) The group opened the larger tomb and found in it a set of clothes identical to the ones in the other tomb, arranged as if the owner had suddenly disappeared from inside them. They turned back to leave the tomb, choosing to ignore a hidden chest containing a boot that gave off a necromantic aura, fought off more Phantasms and Skeletons, including one that was on fire, and found the same Prayer Cup. Rocket picked it up, and a female voice spoke to Rocket inside his head, explaining that she is the spirit of Kalarina Twynam, and that she needed their help to prevent Rykdom, the apocalypse. She explained they need to get a true Voedsel Prayer Cup, or else Rykdom himself may rebuild the Scepter of Existence, resulting in the destruction of all worlds. Rocket shares this with the group, and they leave with the cup. After leaving, they reconvene with Martus, and they explain the situation. They also discover that Kalarina Twynam was the wife of Reed Twynam, the owner of the Bronze Table Market, which the Dancing Stone used to be called. She noted that the wardrobe they own was one that they produced, and she said that many of them would have secret compartments. They spoke about the compartment's contents, and she said the coat in there belonged to her husband, but she didn't know about the watery substance on it. She also said they once owned the Warehouse that the wardrobe had been purchased from, the very same warehouse where the Segara cult had been before. They interrogated Ishtari Nacend, who eventually let on that there was a plot to replace government officials with individuals sympathetic to Kenneth Anticore's intentions, and that this would include killing the Rechtor. The group rushed to alert him, and managed to slip him a note, which he read immediately, stating that he should be careful. Session 11 (7/1/15) Taking the opportunity to follow the Rechtor, the group found him visiting in secret with Emorie, owner of Emorie's Emporium. They spoke about how Emorie had given him an item, in a long leather case, that did not work as advertised. He explained that his protection of her was dependent upon it working, and that she should take it back and return it once it worked. Carli detected the magic of the item, and found that it had an aura of divination magic, and that it might help improve the senses of a person using it. Emorie took back the item, and the Rechtor continued back towards his manor. The group followed him to a lavish manor, surrounded by guards, intending to protect him from possible imminent assassination. As they watched his manor, an arrow nearly hit Rocket, and Bastion immediately shot the figure that shot at them from afar. The figure laid stationary, and they approached the figure's location, finding a cloak empty and damp, with a trail of water leading away. They returned to their post until morning, sleeping in shifts, and the Rechtor returned to the Conclave building. On his way, Bastion stopped him and asked him in a casual way if he recognized the fact that he had Bartram Karver, the man who once tried to assasinate him, working in his office. Rechtor Ninkirk said that he had been cleared of charges, that it was a case of mistaken identity, and that it was not a problme, then he continued on, dismissing Bastion. The group returned to the shop, and Bastion tracked the water trail to the north edge of Kaverdale, where the trail was lost in the grass.